Bad Karma?

  First, I owe you an apology.  Yesterday, I made the assumption that the Red-bellied Woodpeckers loud calls were their way of luring their fledglings from the nest.  Nope. I was mistaken.  The calls were obviously one of joy over the hatching of the eggs.  My mistake became clear when I realized that the little ones could not be old enough to fly from the nest.  This was obvious due to the fact that just in March, a different scenario took place.

  Back in March, I was elated to find that an European Starling was nesting in the dead Black Gum Tree.  While most folks would rather not have starlings in their yard, I am not most folks.  I was happy.  This bliss lasted just a few days as the Red-bellied Woodpeckers raided the nest and devoured the eggs.  I was horrified that such a dastardly deed could take place so near my front door!  But life goes on and since the woodpeckers nested in the same hole, all was seemingly well once again.  Then tragedy struck.  Karma came back to bite the woodpeckers in almost the same way that they had dealt with the starlings.  

  This morning, I awoke to the most irritating fuss being stirred up just outside my window.  The parent Red-bellied Woodpeckers were alarmed at something!  I opened the front door just in time to see a Red-headed Woodpecker attempt a raid on the nest.  Oh, my goodness!  Mama Red-belly was screeching and flapping her wings to ward off the attacker.  In flew Papa Red-belly.  The battle was quite fierce with the two birds actually falling to the ground from the force of their battle.  More Red-heads joined in the fight.  Mama Red-belly darted back into the hole to protect the little ones while Papa fought valiantly against terrible odds.  I counted five Red-heads in the melee.  Poor Papa was fighting a losing battle.  Mama, in the meantime, tried to protect the nest from being raided by the marauding Red-heads.  After a bit, the Red-heads retreated to the oak trees to regroup.  Papa Red-belly hurriedly checked on his wife and then raced to find food for his little ones.  The bowl of cat food was the quickest meal he could find so he took full advantage of it.  Back and forth, he flew.  Trying to feed the family before the onslaught resumed....and resumed it did.  This went on for the entire day.  Several times, Mama Red-belly was forced from the nest. I know for a fact that at least one of the little tykes was hauled from the nest.  It was not a pretty sight.

  This all made me rather sad for the Red-bellied Woodpecker family.  How cruel it was of the Red-headed Woodpeckers to attack and kill the babies.  Then, I recalled the previous family that had resided in the nesting hole.  Karma? Not really.  It is more like survival of the fittest or life in the avian world.  Raising little ones is never easy and sometimes it is the youngsters that pay the price for the adults' actions.  Poor baby birds.  And to think...there was nothing I could do to help.